Manchester United will reportedly wait to see how the season pans out before opening contract negotiations with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
United sit second in the Premier League, five points behind rivals Manchester City and are also in the fifth round of the FA Cup and last-32 of the Europa League.
It has been a fairly impressive season to date for United but club chiefs want Solskjaer to keep up the title charge and secure Champions League football before they think about offering him a new contract - according to the Sun.
It has been reported that Solskjaer, who has 16 months left on his current deal at Old Trafford, could be handed a new two-year contract if his side enjoy a successful end to the season.
Despite United sitting second in the Premier League table after the halfway stage, question marks remain over Solskjaer's managerial credentials.
United continue to be rather inconsistent under Solskjaer, having recently fallen to defeat against basement boys Sheffield United at home and letting their lead slip twice, including in injury-time, in the weekend's 3-3 draw with Everton.
And following their Champions League group stage exit despite a strong start to their campaign, concerns linger at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer will be desperate to bounce back from the Everton draw and begin a strong run to the end of the campaign when United face West Ham in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday night at home.
United face a crunch few weeks in all competitions, with Solskjaer's side also facing Real Sociedad in both legs of their last-32 Europa League tie in February.
With City looking formidable at present in the title run-in, having moved five points clear of United with a match in hand too, the Red Devils know that they can't afford any more slip-ups.
But United legend Rio Ferdinand insists that his former side are now out of the title race after 'choking' following their latest setback against Everton on the weekend.
Ferdinand felt disappointed with United's performance and said they are guilty of 'tripping themselves up all the time' - having won just two of their last six Premier League matches.
Speaking of United's fall from grace, Ferdinand told FIVE: 'You can't defend it. At the end of the day Man United were sitting pretty at the top of the league.
'We didn't come into this season expecting to be title challengers. We were too far behind Liverpool (last season). You can't expect to have a turnaround that big to win the league, it's impossible.
'But I'm like all the other fans. You see the league table, you look at the results, you get excited. When you put yourself in that position, Man United have to strike. You're there now and there's an opportunity.
'When there's an opportunity you've got to go. The problem is we've let this opportunity slip through our hands. You can see Man City with their experience, they've smelt blood, they've put their heads down, they've gone.
'But United have stuttered, we've got the choke going, haven't got it quite working properly. We have choked, it's simple as that. I'd put us out of the title challenge unless we go on a run and we change our habits and our lack of consistency.
'But I haven't seen enough to suggest we can go on a ten, 15-game winning streak. We're tripping ourselves up all the time. It's top four, we'll finish second or third.'
Ferdinand also criticised United's defensive structure for Everton's equaliser, adding: 'I see Harry Maguire, you've got to lead that team from the back and make sure (mistakes) don't happen.
'I was fuming before the free-kick. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has to understand his game management at this time of the game.
'Passing the ball inside, loose like that, to be cut out, is criminal. I would have been going nuts in that changing room, screaming.'
